The voting panel for the 2010 Louisiana Sports Writers Association All-Louisiana College Football team had a tough time picking some of the award winners on this year's team but they were pretty sure of their decision for state Defensive Player of the Year.

LSU's Patrick Peterson was a unanimous pick of those who elected to case votes for Defensive Player of the Year as well as a unanimous selection on the first-team defense.

But other awards weren't as easy for the 26 LSWA panel members to decide.

Ben McLaughlin, who racked up gaudy numbers through the air for Louisiana College, edged out by one vote, Frank Warren of Grambling, who had one of the state's top rushing totals, for state Offensive Player of the Year.

Linebacker Trent Mackey of Tulane edged out Lennon Creer of Louisiana Tech for the Newcomer of the Year for first-year non-freshman Louisiana players and ULM quarterback Kolton Browning was named the Freshman of the Year.

LSU Coach Les Miles, who will lead his 10-2 Tigers to the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 7, was voted the state's top coach.

The team was selected based on nominations from the sports information directors from the various football playing schools in the state. LSWA members then voted on the nominations to choose the team.

Peterson, who also made the first team as return specialist, captured the Jim Thorpe (nation's top defensive back) and the Bednarik (national's top defender) Awards, was the SEC Defensive and Special Teams Player of the Year. He keyed an LSU defense that ranked among top 10 in the nation in total defense. Peterson had 36 tackles with four interceptions, 6 pass breakups and returned two punts for touchdowns. The native of Pompano, Fla., is a junior.

McLaughlin, a senior from Dierks, Ark., threw for a nation's best 3,770 passing yards in earning Third-Team AP Little All-American honors, with 42 touchdowns passes, a 159.93 efficiency rating and only 13 interceptions in 446 passing attempts. One of four finalists for the Gagliardi Trophy (the highest award in D3), he rushed as well for 4 TDs and accomplished all this while working full-time as a math teacher at Alexandria's Bolton High School as pursues his master's in education at LC.

Newcomer winner Mackey, a transfer from Duke, earned first team All-Conference USA honors after starting every game for the Wave and finished with 124 total tackles, 63 of which were solo. The sophomore from Port Sulphur, La., had 10-plus tackles in eight games, including a best of 17 against Army. He also had 7.5 tackles for loss, a fumble recovery and an interception.

Browning made the most of his freshman season, starting all 12 games for ULM and throwing for 2,552 yards and 18 touchdowns passing and four touchdowns on the ground. His 244.8 yards of total offense was the third most this year by a freshman in the NCAA. He tied a ULM single-game record with five touchdown passes against North Texas and posted these numbers while playing the final five games with a lower-body injury.

Miles earned Coach of the Year honors as he won 10 games and put the Tigers in a bowl game for the sixth straight season in his tenure. It was his fourth 10-win season, most in school history with wins over four top 25 teams in 2010, including Florida and Alabama.

Joining McLaughlin on the first team are offensive linemen Sanford Banks of Grambling, Joseph Barksdale of LSU, Michael Booker of Northwestern State, Miguel Gauthreaux of McNeese and Rod McGill of Louisiana Tech. Stevan Ridley of LSU and Frank Warren of Grambling were chosen as first team running backs with one of McLaughlin's favorite targets, Jordan Rideaux from LC joining Simmie Yarborough of Southeastern as first team wide receivers. Ladarius Green of Louisiana-Lafayette was named the first-team tight end.

Joining Peterson and Mackey on the first-team defense were line choices Matt Broha of Tech, Ken Dorsey of Louisiana-Monroe, Desmund LIghten of McNeese and Drake Nevis of LSU. The other two linebackers were Derek Rose of Northwestern State and Kelvin Shepherd of LSU with the three remaining backs Tommy Connors of Southeastern, Morris Claiborne of LSU and Phillip Davis of Tulane.

The Tigers swept the special teams selection with Derek Helton at punter, Josh Jasper at placekicker and Peterson getting double duty as return specialist.